Day at a Museum
by Maximum Writers
Summary: The Flock decides to relax and spend the day at a museum. When Max and Fang are touring it alone, what could happen? And why is Max's name popping up where ever she looks? FAX.
1. Chapter 1 : Human Hurricane

_I have finally got around to posting this story.  
This has taken a very, very long time, so I ask of you to appreciate it._

_--_

_**Chapter 1 : Human Hurricane ** _

**Max POV**

"Okay, remind me again why we are going to a _museum_," I said to Fang, who was getting annoyed about my ranting. We were outside the entrance, waiting in line to get wristbands. But, before I go on, let me tell you something about these stupid, green, wrap-around things that really take a toll on your wallet! They're twelve dollars for eleven year-olds and up, (there goes forty-eight right there), and seven dollars for ten and younger. (Buh-bye fourteen bucks, send me a postcard!). That's sixty-two dollars!!

"For the hundredth time," Fang began, finally answering my question. "We are here because Angel and Gazzy wanted to see a good side of science, the part about how things work, mathematics, and brain puzzles." I glared at him from the corner of my eyes. "At least they're open minded!" he said, defending his explanation. I rolled my eyes and stepped up to the counter.

"Hi, welcome to The Science Museum of Science," she said with fake enthusiasm. I heard Iggy hide some snickers about the name, but I ignored them. "Would you like to get the Deluxe Wristband, which allows you to go inside the butterfly garden and the Human Hurricane?"

"Oh no that's ok--" I began, when Angel cut me off. "Please, Max!" she said, giving me the bambi eyes. I winced, but didn't fall for it. I turned back to the cashier when Nudge tugged on my shirt.

"C'mon Max! We were in a hurricane before, yeah, sure, but we were on the run. This time we can really experience it, AND not be running from a robot with it's organs visible from plastic boxes stacked on top of each other and dog randomly landing on your back--" Iggy covered Nudge's mouth, while my eyes widened a fraction to show that we didn't want to be exposed to the public.

I turned back to the girl, who looked like she was seventeen, and smiled at her scared expression. "We'll take six deluxe wristbands." I said, ignoring the cheering that followed. "How many of you are eleven and older?" The girl asked, calculating the price.

"Four." I said, collecting the money that I was going to give her. After she finally got the prices down, she opened her hand for the money. I handed it to her. She eyed the bills carefully, not moving her hand away. Then her eyes met mine. "The deluxe wristbands are five dollars added onto the regular wristband price." Her fingers wiggled for more cash.

I sighed and fished around in my pockets for the money I had withdrew from the ATM a few blocks away.

Some new _purple_ wristbands and ninety-two dollars later, we entered the museum.

Go figure.

* * *

Everything about this museum was giving me the creeps. First, there were a bunch of people, all walking around, looking at all of these weird displays that they probably didn't understand _at all_, but decided to try them out anyway. The second reason was that everything was distracting, and that totally annoyed me. You could easily lose anyone, or anything for that matter, in here! And the final third reason, I had to spend this whole museum experience with _Fang_. Yeah, exactly.

It kinda went like this...

_"Alright, here we are," I said, eying the museum. "Everyone, find someone to partner with and get ready to look around--"_

_"Okay Max, thanks!" Iggy said, gathering Angel, Nudge and Gazzy into a group. Total was at the campsite with Akila, talking about his undying love for her, even though she can't understand a word that he said. Don't tell him that._

_"Wait, guys--"_

_"Well, see you later!" Angel called over her shoulder, linking arms with Nudge and skipping next to Iggy and the Gasman. Oh boy._

So here I was now, with Mr. Silent, walking around The Science Museum of Science. The place had _three stories_, so we had to have a few hours to cover the whole thing. Fang was walking along side me, seeming bored. "Okay," I started, before he interrupted me.

"Look, there's the Human Hurricane," he said, pointing to the sign, ignoring me. "Let's go." he swiftly grabbed my hand and walked over to the man in charge.

"Do you have the Deluxe Wristband?" he asked in a bored tone. Boy, there was a lot of that around here. "If you don't, you will have to pay a three-dollar entry fee and sign this petition."

My eyebrows drew together. "Why would we have to sign a pet--"

"The manager won't let me off of this job unless I make the customers so upset, they sign a petition to make him fire me," he explained, holding out the clipboard. "Sign it and I'll give you a free 15 percent-off discount for the Science Store Gift Shop." Well, you can easily hold out something like that to me. I took the pen and quickly signed my name. Fang took it too and signed 'Nick Smith', in his narrow script.

When he let us in, there was no one else in the room. Good. "Nick _Smith_?" I asked, my confused expression making him crack a smile.

"I didn't want to have the same last name and tip him off," he said, looking around the room. It was plain white, with a screen. There were a few seats with restraints, obviously so some people wouldn't fall out of their chair.

"This looks... fun," I said, catching the sign above the door.

_**Maximum Occupancy** : 16 persons._

I ignored it, feeling a little shaky. This museum had already given me the chills, and now _this_?

"You okay?" Fang asked me, noting my expression. "You look like you saw a ghost." I nodded my head, shaking off my confused face and changing it for a calm, and cool collected one. Pfft, yeah, _right_.

"Everyone, please take your seats," said an automated voice from an intercom. "The Human Hurricane will begin shortly." For the second time that day, Fang grabbed my hand and led me to a seat, handing me the seat belt. Oh, was this going to be interesting.

The screen flickered for a second before switching to a street, which was surrounded by gray clouds and boarded up shop windows. The ocean, which was only a few yards away, was almost up to the sidewalk, the swells very, very strong. Then, the wind picked up. My hair was blowing all over the place, and I had to put it into a messy bun, or as much of a bun I could manage.

Litter started to blow all around the screen, and then the _actual _seats started to move. All about the room. "Oooh, this is fun," I said, being sarcastic. Then I noticed Fang wasn't next to me. He had gotten up, to witness the wind head-on.

"Fang, what are you doing?" I didn't get an answer, he just came over to me and helped me up. It _was _more fun when you were up, the strong fans could move you back, even when you fought against it. All the sudden, I fell into Fang's chest. He smiled at me, before, lifting me up above his head.

"What are you _doing_?" I yelled again, laughing. Even though I find it really awkward, I always loved when I didn't have to act like a decision-maker when I was around the kids. It was times like these when I could laugh when I felt like laughing, and not feel self-conscious.

When it finally ended, I somewhat fixed my hair, and walked out, a smile plastered on my face. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all.

* * *

My eyes twinkling, we walked up the flight of stairs that led to the second story, about News feeds, and technology that was commonly used today. Now, I know most of you out there would have been bored _out of your mind_ here at a _museum_, but, here's the deal, us bird kids, we have never _ever_ been to one of these things before. So, if you don't mind, just give us a break.

A gigantic group of kids, probably on a field trip, passed us, the stairwell started to shake.

"What's that?" I asked nervously, going on full alert. "An earthquake?" Fang just chuckled at my expression before jumping up and down on the stairs. "It isn't very thick metal," he replied, and I let my guard drop. "So if you jump," he demonstrated again. "You feel the vibrations."

"Well thanks _Bill Nye_," I muttered to him, remembering the stupid science video I had saw in science class a lifetime ago at Anne's. "Sorry for not knowing."

All I got was a smirk.

**Angel's POV**

This place was _so_ cool! I ran across the first floor, looking around at all the brain puzzles that they had assorted in one room. It wasn't very crowded in here, because most kids go to regular school all the time and don't care about this stuff.

This _amazing_ stuff.

Iggy was walking around with Nudge, who was blabbing on and on about how some of these things were impossible. But that was the _cool_ part of it. The challenge.

I was so glad that Nudge had looked up this museum last night on Fang's laptop, convinced Fang to let us go with the '_But-we-never-will-get-this-chance-again'_ act, and I used my mind control. It was worth it.

Plus, maybe Fang and Max could _finally _get together. I smiled at the thought.

--

_So that's the first chapter.  
Expect the next one maybe in about three or four days.  
Depends on if I get good reviews or not, I need to know your opinion. _

Thanks!

_-Mare_


	2. Chapter 2 : News Broadcasting

_Thank you for the reviews.  
You made me smile  
:)_

--

_**Chapter 2 : News Broadcasting**_

**Max's POV**

So, now we were in the _Newsfeed Science Broadcast Room_, a fake news room that allows you to make your own news broadcast. It was pretty cool. Fang was having the time of his life, all the computers, all together in a straight line. There had to be at least twenty of them. There were two cameras, a green-screen, and a whole set where the newscasters would sit.

"You guys wanna give it a try?" asked a man, entering the room and turning on the camera. He had light brown hair, round glasses, a short and skinny frame, and some khaki vest one with matching pants that came up to his knees. "There's a contest going on, whoever can give the best news cast, using one of our stories, including the weather forecast." He held out a flier, which Fang took.

"We'll do it," he said, after reading it. He quickly passed me the paper. We had four topics to choose from for our major story, four different weather patterns, and it all had to be done under six minutes. Oh, boy. But, in the back of my head, I knew that this was going to be fun.

The man smiled. "Okay, pick a topic, and then I'll put the lines on this little television. It'll be right above the camera," he demonstrated for us by powering it up. "When you read from it, it'll be as if you're talking right to it. We will have a short commercial break so one of you can switch over to the weather station, and then you guys can edit it. All clear?"

Frankly, I didn't understand what that guy had just said, but I nodded my head along with Fang. This was candy for him. He _loved _computers and... stuff. As you can tell, it wasn't _my_ best subject. The man took his position behind the camera, while Fang and I reviewed the stories.

"Look at this one," I said, reading the summary of '_Guests get stuck in elevator'_. Boy, this place sure was _great_ with names. "It says that fifteen workers crowded into one elevator, making it get stuck. Sounds cool."

Fang nodded, agreeing. He then chose a weather forecast. Not too soon after, the man called for us, telling us that the camera was all set.

Here we go.

"Hello viewers, this is Nick Smith here," Fang reported, next to me. My clammy hands were forced to be one over the other, to look as if I actually _was_ calm, which, as usual, I wasn't. "And this is Max Shaye," I said, making a false name, smiling a fake smile. Was everything fake about this stuff?

"And welcome to The News Broadcast of Science, featuring science, all about science," Fang introduced, leading it to a title sequence. I nervously shuffled the papers in front of me, and took a few breaths. Who knew this could be so nerve-racking? When it finally ended, it was my turn to speak.

"To start off our broadcast," I began, looking at the screen above the camera. "Our top story is about guests who got stuck in an elevator!" For some reason, that didn't sound good enough. "That's something you don't see everyday!" I added, smiling. Maybe this could be pretty easy.

"No, it's not," Fang said, fake-chuckling. "Apparently, fifteen guests all crammed into an elevator in New York in an office building. It was too much for the elevator to handle, and it got stuck."

"Two hours later," I said, taking my line. "Fire Rescue had gotten these roughed-up employees out of there. Thank goodness." After I finished that line, I realized that the camera wasn't zoomed up on me, it was playing a video of the 'scene'. _Way to go Max,_ I thought to myself bitterly.

"At least they got out of work that day," Fang commented, and I laughed. "That, they did." I replied, shuffling my papers. The man, who's name was Jerry, gave the signal that meant we had to stop for commercial break.

"We're going to stop for a short break," I said, reading from the screen. "Don't touch that remote!"

"We'll be back right after these messages." Fang added, flashing a smile.

Then Jerry gave another signal that meant we weren't on air. Thank God. "That's chilling," Fang said exhilarated. "It's like, so real." I almost cracked up. Fang _never_ showed _any_ emotions, and now, just because of a (fake) broadcast, he's pouring his heart out.

"That's what most people say," Jerry replied, moving to the camera. "Max, come up here for the weather broadcast." He pointing to the green screen, which was actually a _solid_ wall, just painted green.

"Wait--me?" I asked, confused.

"Yes, you, now c'mon, the commercial is almost over," he carefully positioned me and set up the other camera. There was ten seconds before we went on the air. There was a TV in the corner of the room that showed our broadcast, live. I looked over to see the commercials, being that I was bored out of my mind and felt like I was going to die of embarrassment.

"Come to **iMax **3D theaters, and bring another person, and get _half off _your movie tickets!"

I blinked, and tried to calm myself down. Was this another test? Seeing my name _everywhere_? Was it the Voice again? Was I finally going delusional _and_ crazy? Fang looked at me, one eyebrow raised. He was about to ask me something, but then Jerry gave the signal.

"Welcome back to The News Broadcast of Science, everything about science, all about science," I said, my teeth gritted together. Fang pressed the button that launched the title sequence, and while the camera wasn't showing me, I took a few deep breaths and told myself to calm down.

"Hi, this is Max Shaye," I said, introducing myself again. "And I'm giving you _your_ weather broadcast."

I didn't know what was happening, but apparently the green screen was showing the temperatures on the _real_ television, but not behind me. Oh, jeez.

"Today, we have a sixty-percent chance of percipitation," I said, pernouncing the word right. Surprise. "And later on in the evening, we also have another chance of rain at around nine o'clock." I felt like a robot just reading things off a screen. Well, I was. Just... not the robot part. "So if your planning on eating out tonight," I added. "Don't forget your, um, umbrella." I said, trying to regain my composure.

If I wasn't on air, I would have glanced at Fang and told him to get me out of here _now_, but, sadly, I was in front of the camera. Soon it launched into the week forecast, which was all sunny days. "And all this week," I said, not even bothering to read the stupid screen. "It's full of breezes and sunshine! Perfect beach weather!"

Jerry gave the signal that the weather report was over. "And thank you for listening to The News Broadcast of Science : The Weather! This was Max Shaye. Back to you, F--Nick." I stuttered, but smiled brightly after. Oh, God, I was turning into one of those preppy news anchors. Someone help me.

"Thank you Max," Fang said, sitting behind a computer chair. My eyebrows came together as I watched him. "This is a bonus segment in our news broadcast," he began, bringing a computer onto his lap. "We are going to talk about one of the blogs that have grabbed our attention." _Oh God, what the _hell_ was he doing?_ He opened up the laptop, and there was _his_ blog. But, no one knew that. "It's about normal kids, ages ranging six to fourteen, who have been experimented on by scientists that graphed avian DNA into their stem cells. Why don't you check it out?" he then said the web address, and how you can feedback and blah, blah, _blah_. He was so full of himself. "So, congratulations, Fang," He said, and I felt like laughing, but was too annoyed. "You have won our blog award!"

Then the television launched into (another) commercial break. Jerry motioned us over. "You have thirty seconds to add the 'Goodbye Science Stars', and including the music afterwards, you only have five. Get into positions, fast. You're on in three." I carefully made my way back to the news table and took my seat. I kept my eyes focused forward and smiled when Jerry gave me (yet another) signal. "Thanks for watching, Science Stars!" I said, giving Fang his cue.

"And tune in to The Broadcast of Science, tomorrow at five." Fang said, looking like he was at the dentist office. What was with him?

"See you next time!" I said, adding a fake smile. I _really_ wanted out of this place. Fang looked like he did too. Jerry turned off the camera and gave us a pat on the back, which not only freaked me out, but made me want to punch him right in the nose. Hard. "Great job, guys! That was amazing!" he congratulated, sitting in a chair. "If you guys win, which you most definitely will, it may be on our own commercial!"

I shared a quick glance at Fang. "No thanks." we said at the same time, and ignored Jerry's look of surprise.

"Well, guys, I'm sorry, but we are going to use it anyways." Oh, for good lord, can't anything go right?

"_Why_?" I asked in a deadly tone. Maybe I'll scare the idea into his head. Yeah, that's it. _This would be where you'd enter the evil cackle, Voice, _I thought sarcastically. Fang put his hand on my shoulder, to show me not to blow our cover. I scowled.

"Well, by entering the contest, you have agreed that the work belongs to _us_, and we can do, and use, it for anything of our wish. It says it on the bottom right hand corner of the flier." He took a cloth and cleaned his glasses, which I suddenly felt like snapping in half, while we reviewed the flier. It was there. Damn.

_Jerry, you're offically my least-favorite museum employee,_ I thought to myself bitterly.

Enter angry voice here.

--

_You know... reviewing isn't all that hard... _


	3. Chapter 3 : Butterflies

_Me + your reviews (equals) :D!  
(Sorry for the wait -- evil mutant pencils attacked my brain o:)_

--

**_Chapter 3 : Butterflies._**

**Max POV**

"This is stupid," Fang said, walking out of the News Room. "Remind me why we came." I just glared at him with such force, it could have killed a cobra. "Okay, okay, you were right," he said, not wanting me to be angry with him. "It's not _my _fault Angel used some mind control on me and Nudge went on this rant... Max? Why are you looking like you are about to..."

I pushed past him. "I should've known!"

_'Yes, you should have,'_ the Voice added.

"Shut up!" I said angrily.

"I didn't say anything!" Fang exclaimed, but I just rolled my eyes and grabbed his arm. I was going to find the Flock and get out of here, not only because this place was giving me the chills, but the fact that Angel used her powers was the last straw in the haystack.

"They are in so much trouble..." I muttered, still dragging Fang across the second floor. I could almost feel his stare at the back of my head.

"If I can ask," he began.

"And you can't." I interjected. "Here, to the first floor." I saw a door that led to some stairs. _Employee's Only_, was the bold, read sign right above the handle, but I could care less. I pushed hard because it was kinda jammed, and started to reach towards the first step.

"C'mon, let them have their fun," Fang said to me, stopping me on the staircase. "They'll hate you if you drag them out _now_, so let's just have a good time."

"That's out of the question," I muttered, hurrying to the exit of the stairwell. Fang was right on my tail. We passed a line of people on a tour, mumbling things and munching on a bag of Doritos, talking with their mouth full. Ick. "How are we suppose to have 'fun' when there are _so_ many people here? That, my friend, is _not _possible, in any shape, word, _or_ form." I declared, still walking, but instead, Fang was dragging _me_. "Hey, where are we going?"

"To the butterfly garden." Fang answered, taking me out the front doors. "It's outside." And then I saw it, a big building with a _giant _butterfly on it. "Are we here to find out more about our..." I paused so I could whisper. "Wings?"

"Nope." he answered, opening the door to the 'garden'. Weren't those suppose to be outside? Well, apparently not, because this one was all _inside._ "Now, let's go, there's a tour in here I want to go on." he continued, his grasp on my arm tightening. I glanced at him. "Are you sure your the same guy?" He was being _so_ talkative it was _crazy_.

"Yes, now _come on_," he dragged me to the counter, where there was an information desk, this time with a woman who looked like she was in her forties.

"Hi, um, we're looking for the butterfly tour thing," I asked, ignoring Fang's elbow jabs. Men. They always want to do things the _manly_ way and find it themselves. Please. I was going to handle this _Max Ride_ style.

"It's under construction, sorry." the woman apologized, organizing some pamphlets about butterflies and their contribution to the Science Museum of Science. I almost grimanced at the name. It was just _so..._ ugh. It annoyed me. "Well is there anything else open by any chance?" I asked sweetly while Fang hid his chuckles. I kicked his shin.

"Uh, well, there is the butterfly _ride_. It's where you sit on this special seat that bring you up into the air, and you pretend you're a _butterfly_. The leaves are about the length of your _arm_!"

Fang just blinked. "You work with a lot of kindergarten kids, don't you?" I asked nonchalantly, thinking this lady was pretty stupid to act like we were _four_. Take away ten more years or so, and yeah, you got it, but until then, this _wasn't_ gonna work.

"Mmm... not really. Do you want a _Dora the Explorer _cookie?"

Fang was the one who pulled me away before I could smack this lady _silly_. Well, better yet, _smart_. If it was ever avian/humanly _possible_.

--

"I thought we were going on the _butterfly ride_." I muttered to Fang, crouching so a guard wouldn't see what we were doing. "I mean, I know you wanted to go on the tour _really_ bad, but I didn't think it would cross the line of _trespassing_."

"Shut up, Max." Fang replied, jumping over the _caution_ tape by the entrance of the ride. "I just want to see something."

"Aww, Mr. Fangy-Poo wanna see a cutie little buwwerfly? Does he? Does he?" I teased, and Fang turned around to face me.

"Do that fricken thing _one_ more time and I'm going to enroll you in a mental asylum."

I pointed to my head, referring to the Voice. "Too late. The Gasman and Iggy beat you to it."

--

"We're... looking at cages?"

"I just want to see if Itex has anything to do with this, imprisoning butterflies, maybe there's a logo..." Fang trailed off, looking around the empty boxes. The butterflies weren't in here, probably because the ride was closed.

"Fang, even _Angel_ catches butterflies. What's the difference?" Yeah, sure, she only holds them for about two seconds to talk to them mentally (scary, I know), but still. An Itex act?

"Just wanted to test a theory." he answered curtly, checking the outside of the black, rectangular boxes. If these were a _bit_ bigger, I won't have been able to stare two seconds at the dang things, due to the School. Extreme paranoia with cages comes with the deal, if you haven't gotten that yet.

While Fang tried to be all detective, I let my eyes wander around the rest of the ride, seeing if there really was any reason to close it. Damage that could be seen with the naked eye? No. Fading paint? Not that it made a difference, the ride really didn't use anything besides the cage lights. Damaged cages? Well, they would be after Fang was through with them.

"Doesn't Itex make _everything_?" I asked, trying to make a point. "I mean, there was the logo on your soda can that day, on the jeans, and we could even remember Angel drinking out of Itex formula and bottles..." I trailed off, noticing he didn't give a crap about what I was saying. I was rambling, anyway. My eyes started to look towards the blocked-off entrance, just to see if anyone was coming. Just as they flickered to go back to surveying what could _possibly_ be wrong with the ride, they latched onto a neon_yellow_ sign, as if it was meant for me to see it.

**Maximum weight : **400 pounds**.**

My breath hitched in my throat, and I glanced back at Fang, still searching the cages. "C'mon, let's go," I said, keeping the tension out of my voice. "I think I heard some... workers outside the... entrance..." I said distractedly as I made my way through the small space we'd cleared to get out here. I think Fang had no _choice_ but to follow me, being that I wasn't waiting for him to go through every cage in the entire ride.

_'You realize that what he was doing is _illegal_?_', The Voice cut in, sounding harsh. _'You're not even suppose to be in a _museum _anyway. You're suppose to be attacking the Itex plant in Southern Tennessee._'

_Tennessee, got it,_ I said back, internally rolling my eyes. Was it _my_ idea to bring the kids here? No. Was it my idea to have them wander about this place with a _blind_ guy? Again, no. And was it my _hope_ that I get stuck with _Fang_, of all people, as my 'museum buddy'? Wait for it-- No. So why was it suddenly _my_ fault? A fourteen year-old can only do _so_ much.

"What was that about?" Fang asked me, when he finally caught up. I shrugged, not paying attention to his question.

"I thought someone was coming," was my excuse. He looked at me strangely. Now, if the Flock was here, he would have dropped it. However, they _weren't_ here. So he kept on pestering me.

"No, you didn't think anyone was coming. You would have suggested that we would _hide_. This way the people wouldn't see us _exit_. Remember that part of planning? The one where we stay _inconspicious_?"

"So that's what I sound like when I say that," I answered, seeming like I was in thought. "Hmm... interesting." Fang gave out an exasperating sigh, and gave up. Good for him. He can actually take a hint.

"What did you see?" he barely whispered when we were outside, and I closed my eyes in annoyance. We were _so_ close to letting this drop! I undid the clenching of my fingers, took two _deep_ breaths, and turned around to face him. I tried to keep the face smile from entering my face. Some of that anchorwoman crap stuck with me.

"I didn't see anything, what are you talking about?"

"That's _bull_, and you know it," Fang said angrily, and let my head drop a centimeter before deciding between telling him, and making up some _crazy_ lie about how he is going insane and needs to go get his brain checked. I needed more choices. And better accusations.

"Okay," I said, letting in. I watched him relax a bit, knowing that I wasn't going to keep anything from him anymore. We had this thing going since we were little kids, y'know? You can't break something like that. "I've been seeing my name _everywhere_. I know it's a little stupid and all, but it's seriously _freaking_ me _out_." I watched his face for a second before knowing that he was holding back a laugh. A _laugh_.

"Is that it?" he managed, and I just glared at him. Jerk. "Just because," he paused, trying to keep his composure. "I see my name sometimes in movie ads doesn't mean I think I'm being _stalked_." And then he burst into hysterics. Whatever, I didn't need _this_. I turned around and started walking back towards the museum.

"Where are you going?" he called after me, trying to catch up. As _if_. I was walking too fast for him to even _try_.

"Oh, you're done laughing?" I replied back, furious. "Sorry I didn't notice, or _care_!" I reached the door and threw it open, embracing the cold air. And then I realized that I hated this place, and then wished I was back outside, but without Fang being there with me. I shoved the door closed before I could hear his apology. I was going to find the Flock, get them rounded up, and get out of this joint. It was really getting to me.

_'But Max, we don't want to leave,'_ Angel's voice said in my head, and I tried to ignore the innocence that it held.

_Where are you?_, I responded, moving through the crowd, so Fang wouldn't find me. I wasn't ready to forgive him yet.

_'The Food Court thingy on the third floor. Maybe you should eat something, put you in a better mood?_', she offered, and I smiled. How could I pass up something that a six year-old says to help me calm down? And plus, I _was_ a bit hungry.

_Alright, stand somewhere on the third floor where I can see you, and no mind business, missy._

Angel was too guilty to respond to that.

--

_La-dee-dahh...  
Max & Fang will be together shortly... ;D  
(Review! Thanks!)  
:) _


	4. Chapter 4 : Restaurant Humor

_School is the reason for the lateness of this chapter.  
Blame _that_, not me._

_--_

_**Chapter Four : Restaurant Humor**_

**Max POV**

I trudged over to the stairs and climbed the flights, stomping my feet on the weak aluminum so the echos bounced off the walls, making my mood lighten a bit. I would get back to Fang later on, I just needed to think. I reached the third floor and found Angel standing outside a fancy looking restaurant. A _restaurant_? In _this_? Weird.

Angel gave me an innocent smile and led me inside. "We wanted to sit down somewhere without a bunch of little kids jumping around and making us claustrophobic, so Iggy suggested making some reservations at this place. We got a really_big_ booth in the way back, not too far from the buffet, and we've only been here for ten minutes. Are you mad?"

"No, Ange, 'course not," I said, smiling at her. "It was actually a good idea."

"Thanks Max!" Nudge said, coming up behind her. "And by the way, the grilled chicken is _fabulous_! And the asparagus really adds a good combination! Add some of that light gravy sauce and you have a well cooked meal that is even better than Dr. Martinez's! Even if it's possible! But the cookies aren't _as_ good, but they're still _fantastic_. _Mmm..._ They also have hot dogs and french fries too! It smells _sooooo_ good in here right now... I think I'm gonna go eat some more."

I raised my eyebrows before following her, picking up a plate to load up with food. Anything that looked appetizing was good for me. I was too tired for combinations that Nudge had tried, I just piled it up. When I was done, it looked like the Leaning Tower of Pisa that was about to tip at any second. I carefully made my way to our booth, which was secluded all the way to the right of the dining area.

"Can I have some of that?!" Nudge asked me eagerly, her fork flying through the air.

"No!" I said, pushing her arm away. "Go get your own!" She looked at me sourly before going back up again to reload her plate. I smirked and dug into the mountain of noodles, chicken, steak... all the delicious stuff I had shoved onto the twelve by twelve ceramic circle.

"Oh my _God_ there's _cake_!" Nudge screeched, dropping her plate she was filling up and running over to get a slice. I winced at the clatter the plate made against the buffet's marble tile (thank God it didn't break), and Iggy rolled his eyes. The waitress who was carrying the gigantic thing onto it's place holder looked startled when the eleven year-old started blabbing about how cake was _so_ good and how birthday parties wouldn't be complete without it.

"... And it's just _amazing_, I mean, _c'mon_, you have to agree with me! It's so fluffy and sweet and frosty... plus, when they add _coconut_, mmm, mmm, _mmm_! Yum. And you know what the _best_ part is? Ice cream! Chocolate, vanilla, raspberry, strawberry, blueberry, cookies 'n' cream, superman, mint, cookie dough... do you know any other flavors? I like mine with lots of chocolate chip and m&m's and maybe even some crushed Oreos. Although... it would be pretty pointless if I was eating cookies 'n' cream ice cream. But still, the more the merrier, right?" She paused for a large breath of air. "So does this cake have ice cream in it... Charlah?" Nudge pointed to the name tag on the worker's uniform. The employee nodded, freaked out. "THERE _IS_? YES!" She backed up a few steps so Charlah could place the cake down, and then dug in, taking the cake knife out of the waitress' hands and cutting the huge cake into equally big slices. "Thanks Charlah!" Nudge called, face full of the delicious substance. "We'll be sure to give you a _huh-uge_ tip!"

Iggy had his head in his hands, cursing himself under his breath. There was no way we could chow down _here_ ever again. "And the food was so good!" the Gasman wailed, looking upset. He used the impersonation of a very dramatic woman who most likely worked for a soap opera. "Oh Charles, please let us come back here again! Oh please, please, I'll _die _without it!" The eight year-old put his hands on Iggy's shoulder, pleading look in his eyes.

"Get off me man," Iggy muttered, pushing Gazzy away. I tried to hide my laughter, but it didn't work. I burst into hysterics when Gaz faked tears.

"Are you breaking up with me, Charles?" he continued, fake tears still working. "Are you ending our _relationship_?! After so many _long_, cold years, you're going to just end it? _This way_?"

"DUDE!" Iggy exclaimed, pushing him away for the second time. "It's just a _restaurant_!"

I was laughing so hard, I was crying. All the kitchen staff were coming out now, to see why a girl-who-looked-like-she-was-sixteen was rolling on the booth cushion was nearly suffocating. Nudge was standing at least five feet away from the table, in mid chew, watching in horror as the two boys went at it, and started to cringe.

"For Pete's sake, guys, is there a day when you aren't so _embarrassing_?" she exclaimed, looking upset. I caught my breath and sat upright, giving an apologetic smile to both the Nudge _and _the kitchen staff.

"Yeah, is there?" Fang's voice filtered through the air. I snapped my head up to see Angel standing there, hand-in-hand with him. The little bugger. I didn't notice that I was glaring at her until her shoulders sagged. I turned my head away, ignoring Fang's remark.

"Sorry 'bout that everybody!" Iggy called, jabbing the Gasman's ribs.

"Yeah, I rented this voice box thing... and I just wanted to test it out!" Gaz added. I rolled my eyes and Nudge huffed in anger. She set her plate down, and began to eat the semi-melted ice cream cake... thing.

"I still can't believe you did that!" Nudge exclaimed, stabbing her fork into the food and shoving it into her mouth. The staff had gone back to work, but I knew they were still peaking around corners to see what we were up to. "I mean, come _on_, this was a good place, right? And now we can't come back ever again because of _you_."

"Nudge," I interrupted.

"And _plus_, I really liked this place! Now whenever we step five feet into it they'll slam a _closed_ sign over the window, not letting us in! Is there a time where we can, you know, be _normal_ for once? God guys, you're so... so... _horrible_!"

"NUDGE!"

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Relax. It's just food."

She rolled her eyes and dipped her fork in for another bite.

--

_**:)**  
(The smile is there in advance for your review... hint, hint) _


	5. Chapter 5 : The Bill

_Long week.  
Enjoy :)_

--

_**Chapter Five : The Bill**_

**Max POV**

"M'kay, I'm craving donuts," Iggy burped.

"Really? I want some salty crackers with that cheese from the can... you know that stuff? You press the nozzle thing and it like _squirts_ out!" Nudge replied, sipping some water.

"You guys are _crazy_. I want a bagel with cream cheese." Angel said, joining the conversation

"No, no, instead, we should all get _chips_. Yum, those sound really good right now!" Gazzy said, picking up a napkin and wiping his mouth. I twirled my fork absently around air on the deep red tablecloth, Fang sitting across from me, shoving forkfuls of lunch into his mouth, while I tried to think of a way to end the awkwardness between us.

"Hey! Excuse me?" Iggy waved down a waitress, who very cautiously walked up to our table, scared of what 'evil voodoo' we were going to do to her. Ooh, _scary_. "Do you know a place around here that sells donuts?"

"And bagels!"

"Plus chips!"

"Hey! What about cheese in a can with crackers??"

"Um, there's a donut place down the street?" The waitress answered nervously, looking like she'd rather be a the doctors getting a shot than here, answering questions.

"No, no, is there a place somewhere here?" Iggy asked again, using hand motions to keep her from watching his sightless eyes.

"Oh! Well we do have a starbucks..." she said, trailing off. Nudge had this look of pure hyper on her face, and I held my hand up for the check.

"A.S.A.P.", I added, eyeing Nudge to tell her to cool it. She looked at me sheepishly.

--

The check had come thirteen minutes later, about five minutes after Iggy, Nudge, Angel and the Gasman had left to start their hunt to find the Starbucks. The only thing that was good about this ordeal was I didn't have to deal with the kids when they got their sugar high from the caffeine. The bad thing? I was left alone with _Him_ again.

I mentally groaned when I read how much our "lunch" had been. _280.34_. Obviously this 'buffet' wasn't all you can eat. If it was, we would have been better off at McDonald's. After realizing that little part, I cursed under my breath after noticing that I didn't have enough cash to pay the bill. Fang looked up and me while I was pulling the bank card out of my front pocket.

"Go get some money from the ATM." I told him, waiting for him to take the rectangular plastic from my outstretched hand. Half of me expected him to, you know, do _exactly_ what I said, and go get the dollar bills, but this is _Fang_ we're talking about. He rubbed his hands on his napkin, brushed his jeans off, you know, taking his time. Oh, and let's not forget the 'sip' of water he had to have, where he downed a whole glass, and went up for _another_ refill. My other hand was clenched underneath the table.

When he came back, and sat back down, he was munching on a cookie and chugging a glass of milk. Glaring at him, I knew that the restaurant would have to charge us for that too. "_NOW_." I ordered.

"_Okay_. God, bossy much?" He muttered, and I kicked his shin underneath the table, making him wince. Taking the ATM card, he walked-- no, _strutted_ out. I hit my head on the table about a million freaking times; I mean, wouldn't _you_?

I _swear_ that kid does this just to annoy me.

--

_Please Review.  
(And don't forget to vote - Tuesday, November 4th!)  
:D _


	6. Chapter 6 : The Falcon and the Eagle

_Another long week.  
We're forming a pattern here, people.  
School isn't one of my favorite activities, as you can see.  
(Here's your FAX, by the way...)_

--

_**Chapter 6 : The Falcon and the Eagle.**_

**Max POV**

Wandering around aimlessly was pretty much pointless. Sitting aimlessly, however, was not. Well, in this situation anyways. I was sitting on the wooden bench, right by a glass door. By now, the anger between Fang and I was gone, exonerated. It was hard to be mad at someone when they'd been there through the roughest times of your life.

Fang was pacing in front of me. Every five steps, he would turn around and walk in the other direction. _One... two... three... four... five... Turn._ Do you _know_ how annoying that is?! I huffed, and he looked at me.

"What should we do?" He asked, and I shrugged my shoulders.

"I'm just as stumped as you are."

"How could someone be _bored_ at a _museum_?" Fang asked, mainly to himself. I shrugged my shoulders again, wondering where the Flock had went to. Had they gotten in trouble? Blown up the first story? Eaten priceless artifacts? Any of those things were possible, but I doubted that they'd want to eat after the meal they had just had.

"Hey! There's a concert!" Fang exclaimed suddenly, and I looked over to see some band members setting up gigantic amplifiers, speakers, microphones, and tuning guitars. I searched around and saw a bunch of fan girls crowded around a security-blocked entrance and glared. This wasn't going to be the best of ideas.

"Do we seriously have to go to a concert with a bunch of loud, screaming girls and claustrophobic crowds?" I complained, feeling closed in already. I eyed the band warily, blaming them for Fang's idea. If they decided to hold their concert _yesterday_, then we would have been fine. _Stupid band_, I thought to myself angrily.

Fang chuckled at my expression. "We'll stand all the way in the back." he replied logically, standing up and brushing off his jeans. "Plus, I need new music to post on the good 'ol blog."

"Of course, let there be a day when you don't mention something about your blog, the world will surely end." I retorted darkly, getting up along with him and walking out the glass doors. We were directed by security to get behind the fan girls, and groaned.

"Remember that this was your idea!" I whispered, so only he could hear. A slight smile crossed his lips and he grabbed my elbow to quickly steer me away from a bunch of workers who were unloading a gigantic box. I ignored the gesture, partly because I didn't want anything to get too awkward.

. . .

Standing behind five crazy fan girls was not my idea of fun. Why? Because every five seconds, one of them would call out one of the band member's names, which I found _strangely_ stalkerish, and scream, '_I LOVE YOU!_' or, '_MARRY ME PLEASE!_'. I wouldn't have been surprised if one of them brought out a fake diamond ring and claimed that she was engaged to one of them.

"YOU'RE AMAZING!" One of them shrieked, and I winced. It was so loud. Were any of these girls considerate of other people's ears?

"I'M SINGLE!" Another cried out, holding up a poster that had _Angela & Doug_ scrawled on to it with big, pink hearts and and phone number written on the bottom. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from grabbing the stupid thing out of her hands and ripping it into a thousand tiny pieces.

One with blonde-streaked brown hair just decided to scream on the top of her lungs for ten seconds straight.

Then all the other girls joined in, trying to get the band to come out.

"SHUT _UP!_" I yelled over all five of them, making them stop. Fang held me back from punching their guts out. "Some of us actually _need_ our hearing!" I gave them all a look that made them finally quiet down and stop screaming.

But that didn't stop the gossip.

"Oh my God, what a _female dog_." One of them whispered.

"I k_now_," Another one of them replied, rolling their eyes. "All I did was yell a _bit_ and she got _so _pissed off. Can we say _anger management_?"

One of them laughed, slapping a high five with the other girl. I clenched my teeth.

"Just because Doug's mine, doesn't mean she has to get _jealous_." The one with the poster began. From the white paper, I could tell her name was Angela. "I mean, _come on_. If you're jealous then go move somewhere and _get the hell out_. I mean, _please_. If you can't handle the noise then why are you _here_?" Their little group was getting on my nerves. I felt Fang's hand grip my shoulder so I wouldn't do anything stupid.

But their words were biting at me like a mosquito that wouldn't buzz off. Move somewhere and get the hell out? How about being on the run for almost _all your life_ and not having somewhere to live? How about not knowing when our next meal was coming? How about if we were going to survive the next morning? The next battle? Until midnight?

"I know, _seriously_." the fifth one whispered.

I took my pointer finger and jabbed it into the back of the girl in front of me who said that. She turned looked back at me in horror. As if I was some type of _monster_ from the deep. When I'm mad, I _can_ get like that. I won't lie.

"I can _still_ hear you." I growled, and her eyes flashed from fear to terror in a record of point five seconds. "And, _for your information_, if you don't like me, _you_ go move and take your desperate acts with you. 'Cause no one gives a crap because your poor _Doug_ has a better taste then a bunch of desperate teen age _drama queens_."

All the girls exchanged a look and carefully maneuvered their way out of the crowd, my glare following them so they wouldn't have the chance to glance back at me. Fang's heavy hand was resting on my shoulder, and I knew that was a signal that we had to talk. I sighed inwardly and inconspicuously made my way so we were on the boarding part of the growing group of people.

"In here," Fang's tone was stiff as a board, which meant there was no sense in arguing with him. He opened up an old storage shed, blended in because it's paint was so faded. The door handle was suppose to be locked, but Fang pulled on it, and the wooden door opened without any more coaxing. I grimly followed, keeping my gaze down at the cracked concrete floor and the faded orange traffic cones. There was a wobbly work station at the left of the tiny room, a tiny chair, and a bookcase filled with supplies such as extra out-dated telephones, security block-off tape, gloves, and bags.

I sat down on the chair, while Fang took the liberty to plop himself on the wobbly table.

"So... what's this about?" I asked finally, planning escape routes in my head, just incase.

He shrugged. "The crowd was getting to me."

I raised an eyebrow, and then dropped it.

"Those girls were annoying, too," He continued, and I grimaced. Maybe I didn't handle that situation too well. "That '_female dog_' thing got on my nerves." He added conversationally.

"That makes two of us," I replied, looking up at the ceiling, my arms curled around my legs.

"If anything your some type of hawk or eagle."

I snapped my head to his eye level, and glared at him. "What?" I spat, taking it offensively. An eagle? Was that some type of joke?

"You know, fierce. Stubborn. That kind of thing."

"Oh thanks." I replied sarcastically. "What are you? A falcon or something? You know, tall, dark, silent... maybe we can mix some hidden emotions in there and then we have the whole package!"

He rolled his eyes.

"Except, you know, your type of eagle always runs away when ever the _falcon_ tries to do anything." he muttered, and leant my head back.

"Shut up, Fang." I murmured, finding the ceiling extremely interesting. The patterns in it made different shapes. I made out a duck, a smiley face, a picture of a world, a wing, a heart... I shifted my eyes away from it when I realized what I saw.

"Maybe the eagle should try," Fang continued, jumping off the table. It wobbled back into place, a wrench on the side of it clattering to the concrete floor. One of the table's legs were shorter than all the others, which caused it to be that way. Kind of like how we were different than everyone else...

"Maybe the falcon should leave the eagle alone." I retorted, not meeting his eyes.

"What if he can't?"

"What if I _made_ him?" I threatened.

"What if I _made_ her?"

I closed my eyes in annoyance and turned my head the other way, facing the bookcase. My eyes were probably full of confusion, because that was all I was feeling. That and anger. Why did this always happen?

"Max?"

"What?" I forgot about my anger for a second and faced him. His face was set in a smirk, his eyes dark as the sky at midnight. Were eyes suppose to be that color? His teeth were aligned almost-perfectly as if he had braces, except for one slightly crooked tooth on his bottom teeth.

"Your one _stubborn_ eagle."

I glared at him. "How would I become a just plain, regular _kick-butt_ eagle, Mr. Falcon?" I asked, getting tired of this bird stuff. Maybe I could catch him off guard, and he'd knock it off.

He grinned at me. "You wouldn't have the guts to do it."

His hair playfully fell over his eyes and he brushed it back with one hand, studying his square fingernails. I knew he was just trying to get me mad, and it worked. His face just repeated through my head, his smirk, his playful way to get me jealous... I hissed. There was no way he was going to hold this over me;

I pulled his hand, jerking him up right to his feet. My sneakers were flat on the concrete, and Fang was at least four inches taller than I was. He filled the space between us, so not even a piece of paper could fit. His breath was warm on my face, and he chuckled to himself, his eyes swimming with hidden amusement. We were _so close_. All I had to do was stand on the tips of my toes, that's how far away he was... He gave me a patronizing smile, waiting for me to make the next move. I took it as a challenge.

"I dare you," he said under his breath. We were so close, it sounded like he was just regularly speaking.

"Oh yeah?" I said back, drifting my eyes down and then back up, full of new found confidence. His lips looked inviting, and I bit my tongue to hold myself back, maybe just a bit longer...

"Yeah." he replied back, swooping his head down just a bit lower.

And then the door thumped. Someone knocked with big hands, the sound of girls yelling in the background. I froze, my eyes immediately focused on the door. I didn't glance at Fang once, trying to remember my escape plans...

"Let us in!" they cried. Their male voices just made me feel even more sick to my stomach.

--

_BAM!  
Review and the story will continue.  
(Your reviews are loved, by the way. Thank you to everyone who clicks that  
purple/blue button and types a response.)  
**:)** _


	7. Chapter 7 : Trapped with Cookies

_Sorry for the super late update.  
I got THIRTY-SIX reviews for the last chapter!  
Seriously, do you people have lives?_

_I'm just joking.  
Seriously. _

--

_**Chapter Seven : Trapped with Cookies**_

**Max POV**

Fang's fast breath on my cheek was making me feel even worse. My stomach was full of acid, churning in my stomach. I was sure I was going to throw up. I instinctively backed up from his embrace and tried to think of a plan. The bookcase could hide us against the wall, or at least block the door... There was another hard pound from that direction, and I launched into panic mode.

"Help me find something to get us out of here!" I yelled at Fang, throwing the table against the wooden door, hoping to scare the intruders off. It didn't work, the people behind the door still yelled to come inside.

Fang joined me in attempting to find a way out, but there was no avail. I watched, as if I was in a creepy horror film, the door knob slowly turning, and the wood lock's hinges splintering into a million tiny pieces, piercing into my skin. I flinched lightly, stepping back into defense position, Fang following my lead.

The door fell inward, revealing four terrorized guys...

And five screaming fan girls.

--

**Angel POV**

The Starbucks coffee shop wasn't as enjoyable as it sounded. The cookies were stale. The coffee was bitter. The new raspberry tea wasn't as pleasurable as it would have been if the museum staff actually put _effort_ into their work instead of flirting behind the counter, laughing, making themselves iced coffees and sipping them down like there was no tomorrow.

"Can teenagers get cancer from drinking too much caffeine?" the Gasman asked under his breath, eyeing the staff angrily, throwing his drink into the trash from his place on the green couch, with perfect aim. Some of it splashed on the girls laughing at absolutely nothing, and Nudge smirked. I smiled an innocent smile to the accused glares, my cherubic features making the flirting girls turn around, forgetting their intentions of even looking in our direction.

"If I hear one more high pitched giggle I'm going to set this place on fire and watch it burn," Iggy growled, throwing part of his cookie at a guy's back behind the counter. He stiffened, and I eyed Iggy in warning. He just smirked back, and threw the whole rest of the cookie at his turned face. I giggled.

"OUT!" The man screamed, and Nudge burst into hysterics.

"Whatever, Pillsbury dough boy. You have a strange magnetism for cookies, may I say." she remarked, and then walked out of the coffee shop with the rest of us.

This was _so_ much fun!

--

**Max POV**

Fang had gone transparent along with the surroundings with his new power. I tried to ignore it, but I kept on twitching every time I realized that he wasn't next to me. Well, in eyesight view. The four guys looked at me, puzzled for a second, before noticing that the fan girls could just crash right through the now broken door.

"The bookcase, man! The bookcase!" one of them yelled, and they all grabbed the old, rotting thing and threw it against the doorway, holding it in place with their backs. Catching their breath, they fell and held their stomachs.

"Man, guys. Never _ever_ will I do a concert for a museum _ever_ again."

They nodded in agreement, and then turned their attention to me. Their eyes, varying colors, swam down my figure, making me self conscious. One of them whispered something to another, and they broke into laughter. Fang grunted from his invisible place beside me, but I ignored him. I still couldn't believe I was about to _kiss_ him.

"Hey, girl, you from around here?" More laughter. God, these guys were _jerks_.

"No, how about you?" I replied back menacingly. They exchanged a look with each other and then tried another attempt.

"I'm just, you know, the band's lead singer. Wonderin' why a pretty gal like you is in an old shed. You hidin' somethin' that you don't want us to know about?" He took a step forward. "I always loved blondes, 'ya know? So cute and perky. Have you ever thought of becoming a cheerleader?"

"No. I'd rather not run around doing flips, thanks."

Two more steps. I felt the rage rolling off of Fang's skin like a ocean during a hurricane. I clenched my teeth.

"Step back," I warned, watching the bookcase shudder.

The guy ignored me.

"I'm warning you--" I was cut off, because the bookcase was knocked over, and the five, overly desperate fan girls crashed into the room. They looked me over and bit their tongues in disgust, but then started jumping all over the band members.

Fang appeared next to me, unnoticed by the crazed girls, and led me out of there. My heart thumped erratically in my chest. My lips moved nervously, but nothing came out. This museum just got better and better. More like worse and worse. If you know what I mean.

--

_And seriously. I was joking about the part up there.  
I was JOKING!!!  
__**¡Gracias!**  
(It's in advance for your review ;D) _


	8. Chapter 8 : A Chat in the RainForest

_Happy Thanksgiving!  
Here's some _yummy_ stats that I came up with.  
__(When you have a calculator and nothing better to do, this is what happens.)  
In this story, there is an average of...  
**482 hits** per chapter  
**17 reviews **per chapter  
& **1,518 words typed** per chapter._

_=D_

--

_**Chapter 8 : A Chat in the RainForest**_

**Max POV**

I was out of breath my the time Fang and I had gotten to the museum's interior. His expression was still flat and angry, pulling my arm like a leash for a misbehaving fluffy poodle. I grumbled under my breath as I was tugged through the exhibits, deciding to keep my mouth shut than be eaten from the inside out by a pissed off Fang. I didn't have a clue where we were headed, and I had a feeling that Fang didn't either. Not that it mattered, of course. I mean, every fourteen year old hybrid wants to get lost in a museum and possibly get killed, right?

"Where are you taking me?" I finally spat, finding my voice. But I didn't get an answer. Not one. We were traveling as far left to the back of the building as we could, only because it was less crowded this way. I really hoped that Fang wasn't going to try to talk to me again. That would be torture.

Finally we got to the habitat section of the _glorifying_ museum. Yippee. There was basically no one in the large room, and that only made it better. There were four different path ways, obviously four different habitats. I grumbled as Fang had chosen the Rainforest. I had personally wanted to go into the desert portion of the new exhibit. Get that joke? Don't worry, I didn't get it either.

So, still being tugged, I was pulled into the green underworld. No joke. It was literally full of green and nothing but, with real plants, a sanded path worn into the ground... I could've sworn we were in Brazil, scavenging through the Amazon. It was when we were twenty feet into the 'hole of nowhere' that Fang had forced me to come to, that my arm was let go and he sat down on one of the fake rocks. I took the moment to survey my surroundings. Up top was a canopy of deep green vegetation. There were pretty pink flowers beside me, all looking exotic-like, and I had to feel their soft texture to make sure they were the real thing. The sanded path wasn't as worn down as it was in the beginning of the exhibit, so obviously very few people had come this way before. A machine from hidden behind a cercropia tree was giving the rainforest-like affect with mist that made it humid and dense as if someone had transported us through some sort of magical invention.

"This is so _confusing_." Fang groaned into his hands, bringing me back to reality. I gave him a sympathetic smile, not wanting to get involved with his stupid relationship philosophy, and began my 'hike' in the Rainforest of Science. I hopped off the path, going through the trees the hard way without all the signs. The good thing about this exhibit : it didn't just cover the path. There were still trees out of path boundaries, which made it a good thing. The soil was getting into my worn out sneakers, but I ignored it. There was bird calls playing over a speaker somewhere over the canopy of trees, and it was comforting. The birds, the parrots, the animal sounds... The only way I knew Fang was following me was when I heard the loud crunching of his shoes over the rocky soil. I sighed and plopped myself down on a mound of dirt that was a perfect chair, for me at least.

"So, are you going to start with the 'we need to talk business', the cheerleading tactic, or the whole, 'You're such a freakin' pain, Max!' mix?" I asked him, raising my eyebrows. He didn't answer me for a second, and then sighed.

"I forgot about the cheerleading thing until you just reminded me, actually," he said, and I cursed underneath my breath. It was kind of funny that he was forgetting something like that so easily. Maybe he was one of those people who got diagnosed with Alzheimer's at a young age...

"Hey, Fang," I started out of the blue, interrupting his next thought. Sometimes the paranoia in me just you know... gains control. "What's my name?"

What a stupid question. I mean, seriously. I could come up with something better than that!

"What?" Fang blurted, confusion and complete frustration taking over his features. I bit my cheek from laughing at my stupidity. Of _course_ Fang wasn't losing his memory... not yet, anyway. But I just smiled at him quickly.

"Never mind. Continue on."

He shook his head, gave me a once-over, making sure I wasn't coming down with some mental disease, and began with what he had to say. Time for the _fun_ to begin.

"We both know what happened back at that warehouse was _completely_ irrational, right?" He asked, and I nodded my head eagerly, happy that he was going with this approach than the whole, 'We're meant for each other' crap. "I mean, I would never call you an eagle, and you would _never_ think of me as a _falcon_, right? I mean, if anything I'm more of a lion or some type of hawk." I growled underneath my breath, happiness of where this conversation was going disappeared into the thick, humid air. Fang sure had a way with telling people the way it was. "And if anything, you're like some type of tiger or fierce bug... or something."

"Bug?!" I shrieked, outraged. He was comparing me to a _bug_ now?

"Yeah. And Nudge can be some type of monkey or something, because she never shuts up. Iggy can be a sloth, only because it would be amusing to see him make his way around. Gazzy would be a stink beetle, so you'd have a bug friend, and Angel would be a hummingbird, cute and innocent but fast." By the time he finished his speech I was fuming, already off my place on the mound of dirt and up, a foot away from smashing my fist into my right-hand man's nose.

"You _better_ be joking," I seethed, and he put his hands up defensively. I guess all the anger about Angel tricking us to come here, the magical signs appearing with my name on them, the band members, and finally this just set me on the edge. I didn't _want_ any of this.

Slowly I lowered my fist, and sunk to the ground, rubbing my temples. I heard Fang relax, and then murmur something under his breath that I didn't bother comprehending. All I wanted was this awkwardness to be gone and locked away in a titanium safe that no one had the key to. But life wasn't that easy.

"Can we just explore this place while we can?" I asked, gesturing towards the fake Rainforest. "Instead of ruining it?" Fang looked at me for a while, and then finally gave in, offering me his hand to help me up. I pretended not to see it. When we finally found the path again, my socks were pretty much stained black with the muddy soil, and my jeans were covered in dirt. Oh well. I've been through worse. In the Rainforest habitat, there were fake animals hanging down from the trees, little information signs telling us what they were and what they ate... etc. It was really cool, I will admit. There had to be some good work put into it.

When we were far deep into the forest, so deep that the bird call music couldn't be detected with my avian-senses, we decided to sit down on a bench and rest. The bench was tucked and nearly invisible by a line of trees, a garbage can that was painted a neon blue the only sign that this was a resting place. As I leant my head back and let my mind begin to wander, and I made sure I was still on full alert. This would be a perfect time for a pack of Flyboys to appear and rip us to shreds.

"Will you be honest and actually answer this question truly if I ask it?" Fang said to me, catching me off guard, leaning back father into the bench. I thought about it for a second, and then silently nodded my head, despite my gut telling me that it was a bad idea. "Were you _really_ going to take my dare if, you know, we weren't interrupted by those jerky band members?" I bit my lip as I decided what to tell him. The truth or just not to tell him anything at all. No doubt he'd be mad at me.

"Maximum Ride never backs down when a dare is called," I replied, finding my shoes extremely interesting. Fang sighed, obviously knowing that he wasn't getting any answers out of me for a _long_ while.

"Please, just say 'Yes' or 'No'. That's it."

"Is 'Maybe' and option?" I stubbornly asked, picking my fingernails. Not that there was much of a nail there, with all the rough-and-tough we go through day by day.

"No, it's not." Fang replied, getting frustrated.

"Fine then. I won't answer."

"Max!"

"Ugh. Whatever. Yes." I mumbled through my teeth. I avoided his eyes by fixing my gaze on the brightly colored trash can. Boy, that thing was interesting, let me tell you. After ten whole minutes, Fang gave me an exasperated sigh.

"Will you please just _look_ at me?" he complained. So, I turned my head to face him for a millisecond, then turned it back to the waste bucket that was full of paper that could've been recycled. "Oh, really mature." he muttered, finally taking his rough hand and turning my _own_ neck to his face, which was extremely close. _Too close_, I thought, backing up a bit. But his grip was tight.

All the trees in the background disappeared. Any noise from any source was deafened. Because all I could see was Fang, and he was smiling at me. "Can I offer you another dare?" He whispered in my ear, and my first instinct was to choke him in a headlock and pull him to the ground. My mind came up with a million ways of getting his clamped hand off of my neck, but my body wasn't listening. My brain was screaming at me to fly away and get the heck out of there, but for some reason my body wasn't functioning.

"What's the dare?" I asked him breathlessly, my fingers slowly releasing his hold on my neck.

"What do you think?" he murmured, and I watched his lips come closer, and closer.

For some reason, this seemed utterly familiar to me. Except there were no band members or anyone else there to interrupt.

--

_That's all, Folks!  
(Fax in next chapter!) _

_  
**Review! =D** _


	9. Chapter 9 : Kisses & Powdered Sugar

_Sorry for the lateness!  
More school.  
(Sigh)_

_--_

_**Chapter 9 : Kisses & Powdered Sugar**_

**Angel POV**

"_Iggy!_" I whined as he took another piece away from my cotton candy _without asking_. We were roaming outside the museum, far away from where that _stupid_ band was setting up, their voices in the microphones made them sound like mice with even more high-pitched vocal chords. They were _horrible_.

"Hey, I bought this for you, so I have the right to steal some," Iggy retorted, ripping off another chunk and stuffing it in his mouth. We were near the butterfly garden, but I didn't want to go inside. Nudge was at the snack stand, buying herself a funnel cake and making 'small' talk with the cashier. But it wasn't small, let me tell you.

"And then we went to the Starbucks, and the employees were _so_ rude! I mean, al I wanted was a coffee with like a sugar cookie and like, you know, whipped cream 'cause I like the sugar, but they pretended I wasn't even there! All they were doing was chatting to the other employees and the girls were flirting. Ugh. It was gross. And so--"

I tuned her out and looked around for the Gasman, sitting down at a nearby table reading a map. I walked over and sat next to him.

"Hey Gaz, what's up?"

"'Nuthin', just wondering when Max is gonna go all 'paranoia' on us and make a run for it." He smiled at me and turned back to what he was reading. Which was funny, because he never read. I sighed and put my head in my arms, looking up at the clouds. A few minutes later Nudge, who was escorted by the cashier, came over to our table, the poor girl who was at the cash register mumbling something about how eleven year-olds shouldn't be allowed to have coffee-related drinks.

"Hey ghuys! Pthis spuff is pealllly goodf!" She said with funnel cake in her mouth. The powdered sugar made a white beard around her chin, which stood out against her mocha-colored skin tone. Gazzy and I shared a glance, and then smiled.

"Yeah, sure Nudge." We said at the same time, then going back to what we were originally doing.

"_I'm bored_." I complained a minute later to Iggy, who was standing a foot away from our table. He nodded in agreement, sightless eyes listening to footsteps and echos against the walls. I wanted to get out of here. If only we could find Max soon enough, then we could stretch our wings and go some place else...

And then Nudge sneezed and all the powdered sugar flew on our faces.

"NUDGE!" We responded in annoyance.

--

**Max's POV**

His breath was warm on my cheek, as if to say, _"I'm waiting."_ My eyes were focused on his, and then I felt a soft aura of reassurance placed over me, as I leaned in.

It was only Fang's face, floating in my head, everything tuned out. The trees were blurred into a pretty blanket of green and deep browns, comforting my heart, which was beating a mile a minute. The mist from overhead was warm and sticky, but I didn't mind. The fake monkey hanging down from a tree right across from me seemed to look jealous, and I smiled to myself. His breath tickled my chin as he laughed quietly to himself for a moment, and then my thoughts were momentarily cut off.

Because Fang and I were kissing.

His lips were warm and lean, moving against mine in rhythm. I could feel his hands against my arms, his rough palms feeling just right. I had a flashback from when we were in Virginia, when he was kissing Lissa, and shut it down. I remembered kissing Sam, and then beat that memory down with an imaginary steel bat. Because _nothing_ compared to what was happening now. No, there weren't 'fireworks', but there probably should have been. I began to feel lightheaded and dizzy, so I pulled back, breathless.

His eyes searched mine and he gave me one of his small grins, which made the little lighting in this 'jungle' seem like a thousand watt bulbs casting down on our faces. I noticed that, like always, Fang's hair was covering his eyes and his olive skin was coated with artificial mist. His lips were slightly apart, and his eyes were on mine, seeing right through me. I held back a shiver, but did not let my gaze change directions. His hand came up and touched my forehead, brushing a stray hair away from my eye. While Mr. Silent looked pretty damn good for a kid on the run, I probably resembled a piece of crap. My hair was a mess, that was obvious. You can't really carry a hair brush in my situation, my eyes were probably just the plain old dull brown they usually are, and the mist on made me look like I was a girl with a bunch of extra sweat glands.

But it didn't matter, right now anyway. I still noticed that Fang was super close, only about five inches apart. His soft breathing made the skin on my neck warm, causing me to feel a bit claustrophobic. His grin became wider, and he brushed his lips against my forehead, taking my hand in his on the way.

_God,_ he was good at that.

Our little moment of peace turned out to be disrupted, when we saw a red light come out of the trees.

"Nobody move, nobody'll get hurt," the person said in a mocking tone.

--

_Yeah, yeah.  
Cliffhangers are evil.  
The ending is next chapter, and I'll tell you more about my next story then.  
**Review and I'll update faster!**_


	10. Chapter 10 : Endings & Black Masks

_Yes, the ending has come.  
But don't worry. I'm going to try to come up with another story.  
If I ever get over this Writer's Block._

_Have fun reading!  
:)_

--

_**Chapter 10 : Endings & Black Masks**_

**Max POV**

I knew moments like this were too good to last. I watched the red light behind the trees filter through, touching my face. It was a small red light, one that would only signify one thing.

A video camera.

I held back a gasp as my lips curled back into a snarl, eyes turning into lethal daggers focused on the man who was holding the device. He was masked, so I couldn't see who he was. It didn't matter. There was definitely something going on here that wasn't right. I mean, wasn't he suppose to be attacking us? Slowly, still keeping my glare fixed on the attacker, we rose from the bench, turning our bodies automatically into defense position. I was in front, of course, only because, well, if Fang was I'd probably kick his ass from here to next month.

But the thing that got me the most was the sticker on the side of the camera. It said _Maximum Ride Trackers_. Trackers? What?! Was this why I was seeing my name everywhere? Grounding my teeth together, I felt a new hatred for this man.

"C'mon, show your wings. Pose for the camera, guys." The man said, focused on his footage. My hands curled into fists as I understood that he was all about business. Nothing about fighting, just about revealing us onto the web so _he'll_ get famous. Nothing good for us, though.

I clamped my teeth together and hissed. "Drop the video camera." I commanded, looking straight into the lens, then beyond at the man, who's face was covered. It was a tight, black fitting that only exposed his eyes and had two nose holes to breathe through. Plus a hole for his mouth. It looked like he had came out of a bank robbery.

I took a swift step forward, eyes burning holes into the mask he had created.

"Yeah, yeah, that's it. Act fierce. Take a running leap and--" I knocked his impressive camera to the ground, the screen shattering into a million tiny pieces. His facial expression turned from movie director to horror in .02 seconds.

"Now what's that face behind that mask?" I sneered, chopping his neck with the left side of my hand, grabbing the black mask in the other. "When I figure out who you are, you're going to be so sorry you'll be wishing that you never even set your _eyes_ on a video camera before!"

"Wait, wait!" The man exclaimed, his brown eyes pleading. I studied them for a second, knowing I had seen them before. He looked scared and distressed, knowing that he wasn't filming anything that he was sent here to do. I smirked to myself, tightening my hold on his mask. "Please! Don't kill me! Don't take off my mask. Don't! Please!"

Fang came up behind me and kicked out the man's legs out from under him, sending the impostor to the ground, his legs covered with lose dirt and his mask slightly revealing his lips and a bit of his chin. My hold of the mask was temporarily lost, but I bent down and grabbed the black cloth with haste, my eyes burning with rage.

"You think that you can come here, reveal us to the world, and try to make our life even more than a living hell than it already is?" I growled, lifting the mask up, centimeter by centimeter. His eyes were full of panic, Fang watching me carefully. "Our lives are far worse than yours. Did you need some extra money for that new car? Or how about that new computer? Is that why your doing this? I'll tell you something, buddy. I have to take care of six people, and we don't even have enough money to _feed_ ourselves at night! Let alone the day! So does that give you the _right_ to video tape us and make our lives even more complicated? Are you going to post it on_ YouTube_ for day of fame? Do you _want_ us to die?!"

He shook his head no, but I finally had enough. "Why are you doing this?" I demanded, throwing his head backwards onto the fake forest ground. "Why were you filming us?" I waited. "ANSWER ME!" Fang was looking over the surrounding area, to see if there were any witnesses. There were none. "Tell me why your video camera said '_Maximum Ride Trackers_'! Tell me why you're here! Tell me why you won't _answer any of my questions_!" I grounded out, lifting up his head again and threatening to take off the mask.

"O-okay, okay." He stammered, choking. I stopped swaying his head so he could form words. "I-it wasn't for the money. I was sent here. No, not from Itex. From the blog I'm working on. It's not out yet. We heard of your location, so we came to the museum... Please, don't kill me."

My eyes squinted, and I punched him hard in the nose. He fell backward, groaning, gripping his now blood-filled mask.

"I'm going to take of your disguise, tie your arms and legs together, and take your camera. Understand? If you tell _anyone_ about what you've said or heard or _saw_, I will personally track you down and rip you apart. If I ever _see_ you again or hear about this on your 'blog', you _will_ hear from me. Got it?!" I barked, taking the black fabric in my fingertips once more. Grasping the mask, I ripped it off his head with such force some hair came with it. I gasped loudly, Fang coming over to see. We were frozen in shock, scared to move.

"Grab the rope." I said barely over a whisper, pointing to my backpack. "Tie his arms and legs. I'm going to survey everything over once more."

It was quiet as we wrapped up the impostor, and then gathered our packs. I was on full alert, hoping that Angel would hear my thoughts from where ever she was.

Before I forgot, I walked over to the broken camera, the screen cracked and useless, and I popped the latch that released the tape. There was no way I was leaving this here. Carefully I slid it into the back pocket of my jeans, noting that Fang was waiting for me. Still recovering from the identity of the man, I swayed over to where Fang was.

"Let's get out of here," I said, my eyes wide and my voice strangled.

He took my arm and stared at me for a second, then let go and began to run towards the exit, with me following. But I was stuck on one thought : the man had gotten our kiss on this tiny tape in my pocket. Lightly I traced my finger over it and hoped that it wouldn't be found out by the rest of the Flock.

Oh, God. I could just see it now, in full volume of Nudge and Angel's voices :

_Max and Fang... sitting in a tree... K - I - S - S - I - N - G!_

--

The man gave a triumphant smile from his brilliantly-thought out faked unconsciousness. Just because _Maximum Ride_ was very menacing didn't mean that he didn't have an extra backup camera stashed in the trees, one without an obvious bright light. The kiss was chilling; perfect. He had gotten it before he revealed himself. Max's fierceness had the perfect amount of rage that all Max Ride fans would expect. His whole '_Max going psycho_' plan had worked, leading her almost to insanity. It was perfect. Fantastic. _Great_.

Was he going to put it on _YouTube_?

Yeah, right.

No. He wasn't. It was going on his new blog. _Tracking the Flock_. He had a tracker in every state, ready on a moment's notice. This video was going to be the first of many. The pieces of the broken camera that Max had thrown against the tree were going to be evidence of her strength. He was going to be famous.

Oh, and that Weather Forecast? It was going to be up there too.

He was going to track the Flock, no matter the risks. He was Jerry Devr, the weather forecast executive at The Science Museum of Science. And there was no way he was backing down.

**~The End~**

--

_Big twist.  
I know.  
My next story may take a few weeks to come out, I have to write it and  
then check for grammer, then write a summary... so, yeah. Anyway._

Thanks to all my reviewers : _I would've never gotten  
this far without the inspiration. So, uh, thanks. (:_

_Oh, that reminds me...  
**Review please!**  
:)_

_-Mare  
Maximum Writers_


	11. New Story Being Released 10 26 09!

**Hey guys, I promised I'd update you when I had another story.  
So, as you might have guessed...**

**I've come up with another one!**

**Here's the thing :**

**1)** It's not a continuation of this story.  
(Sorry!)  
**2)** I've been formulating it for a month now and I've gotten a basic plot formed!

**So thanks for sticking through with me, I know I've been a pain, and I finally came through for you guys, so woo-hoo!**

* * *

Release Date?

**I have the date set for the story to be released **TOMORROW**! On Thanksgiving (for the US, anyway)**.  
**Why Thanksgiving?**  
To thank _all of you_ out there who have reviewed this story in the past. You've all made my day so much brighter and made me so happy inside. I've never thanked you properly, so here it is : Thanks SO MUCH. I love you all. So, as an even better thank you, I'm releasing a new story. Yay!

* * *

I know this is probably a bummer for all of you who think I've come up with a new chapter... so sorry for that. I hope you all enjoyed _Day at a Museum_ and hope you love _**Fifteen**_ (the title of my new story!) even more.

Put me on author alert or keep a good eye out, It'll definitely be posted tomorrow. I promise!

-Maximum Writers


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